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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. mark — a grade
  3. kid — to tease
  4. mark — a trace
  5. wound — an injury
  6. squash — to crush
  7. race — a contest
  8. club — for golf
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. scale — size or range
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. prune — to trim
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. prune — to trim
  15. scale — in music
  16. kid — child
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — the arms race
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. club — for dancing
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. club — a group
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com